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28.6.13

As my birthday fell on a Monday this year, I decided to take the day off and make it into a long weekend to fully embrace officially being in my mid-twenties.

I always feel a bit funny around my birthday, I never know whether I'm happy or sad about getting another year older, I also hate organising anything incase no one shows up! Luckily I didn't have to worry about that as Steven planned a whole day of fun and surprises with this sweet note left in my card to keep me guessing throughout the morning.

We began the afternoon with a visit to my favourite Thai restaurant in Soho, Rosa's. Steven took me there last year and every time I have a pad thai it never compares to the one they make (although Thai Corner Cafe in East Dulwich is a close 2nd).

We had a feast of food with crackers and satay sauce, spring rolls (some of the best I've had!) and pad thai for me and a red curry with tofu for Steven, we sipped wine and beer and chatted about all the birthdays we've had together and realising just how far we've come over the past 5 and a half years - it seems getting old makes you sentimental!

With our bellies full to bursting we took a stroll around the posh bit of Central London, walking up to New Bond Street and peering in all the expensive shops with no customers, we haven't really walked around that area before so it was nice to see new buildings and attepting to celeb spot.

For the next part of my surprise we sauntered down Burlington Arcade and came out opposite Fortnum & Mason where Steven was grinning at me and I knew straight away we were going for ice cream! We had a reservation in The Parlour where we both ordered a sundae, mine was the 26 miles - with nuts and nougat and toffee icecream and caramel sauce and Steven had the Icy Nicey Mint - with kendal mint cake, mint choc chip ice cream, walnuts and maple syrup. It was pure indulgence but worth every penny.

We ended the day with birthday cake (the smallest slice because you have to on your birthday) and admiring my lovely gifts.

26.6.13

How was your weekend? I feel like my head is still spinning from everything I did this weekend, it was packed full of fun and so much food, I had the best time. On Friday we went to our first rooftop cinema experience at the Bussey Building in Peckham, a couple of friends friends couldn't make it so we managed to avoid the £12 entry fee and enjoyed an evening of drinks, burritos and Waynes World. Luckily the weather held out for us and the sky looked amazing as the sun set, the view over London looked so good and we had a great time snuggled up under blankets watching the film.
On Saturday I arranged to meet my friend and the V&A to see 'David Bowie is...' She has a membership card so managed to get in for free for that too (love a freebie!) The exhibition was great, full of letters, photographs and music that made me want to dance all the way around. We've got tickets to go see it in July with my family so really looking forward to seeing all the bits I missed as it was so busy. It also made me a bit sad that no one was really into the music, not one toe was tapping or humming along - except us!

Afterwards, so my friend and I could have a good catch up we went and and tried Jamie Oliver's new pop diner just off Piccadilly Circus, being in such a high profile tourist area really should have rang alarm bells, the food was bland and the service was very forgetful. Not to mention the amount of times we were blasted with cold air because they sat us under the air conditioning! I ordered the veggie burger which was so tasteless and crumbly and had so much strong mustard in I could barely eat it! Wouldn't really recommend it but there is a hot dog takeaway diner below the restaurant which might be worth a try if you're in the area.

To recover from our disappointment we took ourselves off to Graphic bar where we finished off the evening with cocktails in paint cans. I loved the whole atmosphere in here and the DIY slider menu looked very appetising! Highly recommend visiting this bar if you're a gin lover.

24.6.13

24 was a good year; I started this blog, made some lovely blog friends, I got a new job, I bought a new camera and fell back in love with photography (that my degree had beaten out of me), we went on holiday, saw some of our best friends get married, I photographed a wedding, we went on loads of day trips and ate plenty of pizza.

Hopefully 25 will be just as good, I'm looking forward to what its got in store. I have no major plans for what I want to do this year, just to carry on exploring London with my favourite person.

21.6.13

Back in March when I changed jobs, the lovely people at my old place bought me a voucher to use at Tea and Crafting, "So you can finally learn how to knit!" - they were listening to me harp on after all! I find it difficult to learn crafty things from videos/books, so a small class like this was perfect for me.

Tea and Crafting is owned by the lovely Jane Gois who impressed me straight away with her skills of knitting with her eyes closed, I knew I wouldn't be quite at that standard by the time I left but she did promise me I would definitely be able to knit. The workshops are held in her studio in Camden Lock, a very serene place away from the hustle and bustle of the market downstairs - and decorated beautifully, it was like walking into an interiors board on Pinterest.

The class lasted about 2 and a half hours, all the materials were supplied (which we got to keep!) and I have to say Jane's patience with us newbie knitters was medal worthy. We learnt two stitches - knit and purl, how to cast on and cast off, she gave us tips on things we could make with our stitches and the best wool to buy and even where to buy it from!

I'd really recommend having a look on her website and signing up to learn a new craft, or even to brush up on an old one, the prices are so reasonable it would be silly not to really -and that's coming from a tight northerner!

And here's what I made...

I wish! But that is something I COULD make with my new found skill...here is the real thing

Not quite as impressive but I'm chuffed all the same, I'm thinking of taking the granny crochet squares class next...ohh the possibilities!

19.6.13

A few weeks ago we travelled to Spain to see two of our close friends tie the knot.

After being asked a few months before 'Jo...are you bringing your camera? We're not hiring a photographer...' I was pretty much prepared (terrified) to photograph my first wedding...yikes!

Amy and Terry got married in a Spanish church in a town called Torrevieja with the reception being held at Amy's mum and dads villa in El Raso. They paid attention to the little details; the gems on her shoes she did herself to match her handmade dress, the typewriter at the reception for the guests to leave a message and the Spanish food her mum had cooked all by hand, enough to feed 45 people!

The service was so lovely with personal readings from friends and family that had travelled from as far as Australia to be with them on their day. There was bunting galore back at the reception, a wedding cake made from cheese and so much food I thought I was going to explode.

After getting back from Spain I then had the mammoth task of editing the pictures into an album, (which took a lot longer then I thought) but they ended up with roughly 140 images all retouched and ready to print and also a version ready to put online which show the day in its entirety.

I'd love to photograph another wedding - where I'm not a guest though! I loved the whole day and even though the process afterwards was longer (and more tiring) then I thought whilst balancing a 9-5 job, the feeling of producing these images that the Bride and Groom will look at in many years to come is very special. The things you do as a favour to your friends aye!